Combined tissue box and toilet paper roll holder

ABSTRACT

A holder equipped to support a roll of toilet paper and to receive a box of tissues in spaced above relation to the toilet paper roll to allow dispensing of tissues from the box without interfering with dispensing of toilet paper.

United States Patent [191 Megdall 1451 Feb. 26, 1974 COMBINED TISSUE BOX AND TOILET 2,738,898 3/1956 Lee 312/39 x PAPER ROLL HOLDER 3,409,340 11/1968 Clark 312/39 Sanford B. Megdall, 70-20 108th St., Forrest Hills, NY. 1 1375 Filed: June '1, 1973 Appl. No.: 366,310

Related US. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 251,314, May 8, I972, abandoned.

Inventor:

[1.5. CI 242/552, 248/316 D Int. Cl. B65h 19/00 Field of Search 312/37-39;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1956 Capocci .Q 248/316 D X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,054,208 l/1967 Great Britain 242/553 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell [57] ABSTRACT A holder equipped to support a roll of toilet paper and to receive a box of tissues in spaced above relation to the toilet paper roll to allow dispensing of tissues from the box without interfering with dispensing of toilet paper.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures COMBINED TISSUE BOX AND TOILET PAPER ROLL HOLDER CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates in general to holders for dispensing facial tissues, toilet paper, paper towels and the like. More particularly the invention is directed to a combination holder that is conveniently supported from a wall and which is equipped to receive a spindle for holding a roll of toilet paper and to receive a box of facial tissues, or the like, in spaced above relation to the toilet paper roll. This allows tissues to be dispensed from the box without interfering with dispensing of toilet paper.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the prior art, there are certain known types of combination tissue and towel dispensers, such as is exemplified by US. Pat. No. 3,409,340 issued to R. A. Clark, and US. Pat. No. 2,738,898 issued to R. B. Lee. However, such combination dispensers are relatively complex and are not readily adapted for use where there is available an existing wall-mounted holder forthe toilet paper.

During the prosecution of applicants earlier parent application, reference was also made to British Pat. No. 1,054,208 issued to A. G. Carroll et al., which related to a toilet roll holder constructed of wire and included an incorporated wire tray portion for supporting spare toilet rolls. The structure for the tray portion requires the use of excessive amounts of wire material which substantially increases the manufacturing cost as compared with the cost of manufacturing the holder of applicants invention. Furthermore, the structure of this patent is also not readily adapted for use with an existing wall-mounted holder for the toilet paper.

SUM MARY OF THE INVENTION The combination box and sheet roll holder of the invention is designed to hold a typical box of facial tissues in spaced-above relation to a sheet roll, such as is com monly designated as toilet paper. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the combination holder has a frame that is disposed for support from a wall. The frame includes a pair of resilient rod mem bers and a cross rod member integrally connected at each end to an associated resilient rod member to definea generally U-shaped construction. A bar member is mounted on each of the resilient rod members and located to project toward one another for receiving and supporting the sheet roll thereon. Each bar member includes a stud portion disposed to engage with complementary wall supportingstructure to pivotally support the frame relative to the wall. The invention further provides for the said wall supporting structure to consist of the existing toilet roll spindle supports already mounted on the wall of the bathroom. The free ends of the resilient rod members bear against the wall surface at points below the sheet roll and its supporting bar members whereby the cross rod member is drawn back from the wall to resiliently press the tissue box against the wall for supporting said tissue box in spaced relation to the sheet roll.

In another embodiment of the invention, the resilient rod members are each shaped to form a loop defining one spindle receiving aperture. This embodiment eliminates the need for the bar members in supporting the sheet roll thereon. Rather, the frame is adapted for use in conjunction with a conventional spindle normally mounted and supported between the existing spindle supports on the bathroom wall. The conventional spindle receives and supports'the sheet roll thereon where upon the ends of the spindle respectively pass through the loop ofthe associated resilient rod member and are received within the existing spindle supports. The spindle ends passing through the'loops serve to pivotally support the frame at the spindle axis.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a combined tissue box and toilet paper roll holder which supports thebox of tissues in spaced above relation to the supported toilet paper roll, and which allows dispensing of tissues from the boxwithout interfering with dispensing of toilet paper, and vice versa. I

Another object, feature and advantage of the present invention is to provide a combined tissue box and toilet paper roll holder which is relatively easy to use and economical to manufacture.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be-more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination tissue box and toilet paper roll holder according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a frontal elevation view of the combination holder shown in FIG. I as seen installed upon a typical wall and with the tissue box in its supported position;

, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the combination holder shown in FIG. 2-as taken along-line 3-3 therein;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the combination holder shown in FIG. 1 as taken along line 4-4 therein;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a combination tissue box and toilet paper roll holder according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a frontal elevation-view of the combination holder shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation view of the combination holder shown'in FIG. 6 as taken along line 77 therein; and I I FIG. 8 is a sectional elevation view, somewhat similar to FIG. 7, but showing the combination holder of FIG. 5 as used in connection with an existing toilet paper roll holder that extends from a wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1-4, there is illustrated a combination toilet paper. roll and tissue box holder 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. Holder '10 is expediently made from a continuous length of inetal rod bent into a modified U-shape frame 11 having a pair of spaced resilient rod members 12 connected by an integral cross rod member 13. The upper portion of each resilient rod member 12 is bent to form an off-set portion '14 disposed to engage a tissue box 35 and support the same in spaced above relation to a roll of sheet material 36 as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Disposed between the off-set portion 14 and the free end 15 of each rod member 12, is support means 16 for supporting the roll of sheet material 36 between said spaced rod members 12. More specifically, each rod member 12 is formed having a reversely bent portion 17 which connects with a plastic bar member 18 mounted thereon. The assembly may take the form of locating the bent rod portion 17 within a suitable mold and forming bar member 18 thereon whereby rod member 12, in effect, passes through bar member 18. The arrangement is such that the longitudinal axis of bar member 18 is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of rod member 12. Furthermore,- it will be appreciated that rod portion 17 fixedly locates bar member 18 relative to rod member 12 to prevent movement of said bar member axially of rod member 12. It will be further appreciated that the aforesaid interconnecting arrangement of bar member 18 to rod member 12 is for'illustrative purposes only and is not to be deemed a limitation on the present invention. Accordingly, it is within the purview of the invention to provide any other convenient manner for making the aforesaid connection of said component parts of the structure.

Regardless of the manner of connecting the bar member to its associated rod member, it is necessary that the spaced rod members 18 extend inwardly of the respective rod members and toward one another for receiving and supporting the conventional tissue roll 36 thereon. In this regard, it is preferred that the spaced bar members 18 be in substantial axial alignment for ease in mounting the tissue roll thereon. This mounting is readily achieved by slightly spreading apart the spaced rod members 12 and inserting the inner ends of bar member 18 within the respective ends of the paper tube or core 37 of the tissue roll 36, whereupon the resiliency of said rod members 12 maintains the bar members 18 within the 'core 37 of said tissue roll. Bar members 18 thus serve to support the tissue roll 36 between rod members 12 without interfering with dispensing of said toilet paper.

Each bar member 18 is further formed having a coaxially related stud portion 19 projecting outwardly thereof and disposed to engage with complementary wall support structure. For example, the wall structure may include the conventional toilet paper holder 20 having arms 21 extending from wall 22 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The arrangement provides for the stud portions 19 to be received within respective recessed openings 23 in arms 21 to thereby support the frame 10 relative to the wall.

If desired, the pair of spaced bar members 18 may be replaced with a single bar member connected to one of the rod members 12 and disposed in extending relation to the other rod member 12, in which event, modified connecting means having a comparable stud portion would be. required on said other rod member for mounting the frame 10 to the wall.

In operation, tissue roll 36 is initially mounted on the spaced bar members 18 and the stud portions 19 of said bar members are located within the conventional toilet paper holder arms in the manner above described. This arrangement locates the free ends 15 of resilient rod members 12 in contact bearing relation against wall 22 in a region spaced below the supported tissue roll whereby bar members 18 are constrained for limited rotary movement about their respective axes relative to the wall support structure. Cross member'13 is then drawn back and tissue box 35 positioned against wall 22, in spaced above relation to the supported tissue roll 36. In this connection, the off-set portions 14 of rod members 12 are disposed in substantially horizontal alignment to define spaced shoulder portions 24 for re ceiving and supporting thereon spaced marginal edge portions of the box. The resilience of the spaced rod members 12 serves to urge cross rod member 13 to press tissue box 35 against wall 22 with sufficient force that the frictional contact with wall 22 holds box 35 securely in place.

In FIGS. 5-8 there is illustrated a combination holder 10A constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Holder 10A is similar to the holder 10 of FIGS. 1-4 wherein the metal rod is bent into a modified U-shape frame 11A having a pair of spaced resilient rod members 41 connected by an integral cross rod member 42. In this embodiment, support means 16' includes a pair of laterally spaced and aligned loop portions 43 each formed in an associated resilient rod member 41. The loops 43 are of aperture size allowing the extension therethrough of the ends of a spindle 44 that supports the roll of toilet paper 45 thereon. The ends of spindle 44 are also received in and supported by a conventional toilet paper holder 46 recessed into the wall 47 as shown in FIG. 7, or by a conventional toilet paper holder 48 having arms 49 extending from wall 47 as shown in FIG. 8.

The operation is essentially similar to that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 wherein tissue roll 45 is initially mounted on the conventional spindle 44 whereupon the free ends of said spindle are passed through the associated loops 43 andare received within the conventional toilet paper holder arms 49. This arrangement locates the free ends 50 of resilient rod member 41 in contact bearing relationagainst wall 47, in a region spaced below the supported tissue roll whereby loops 43 are constrained for limited rotary movement about the axis of spindle 44. Cross member 42 is then drawn back and tissue box 51 positioned against wall 47 in spaced above relation to the supported tissue roll 45. The resilience of the spaced rod members 41 serves to urge cross rod member 42 to press tissue box 51 against wall 47 with sufficient force that the frictional contact with wall 47 holds box 51 securely in place.

As can be appreciated by the artisan, the holders 10 and 10A support the tissue box in spaced above relation to the tissue roll so that toilet paper can be dispensed from the roll without interference with dispensing of tissues from the box and vice versa.

From the foregoing description it can be appreciated r v l. A combination box and sheet roll holder for use with existing brackets for holding the bar for a roll of toilet tissue comprising:

a. a frame disposed for support from a wall; b. said frame including a pair of resilient rod members, and a cross rod member integrally connected at each end to one of said resilient rod members;

c. means on said frame for supporting said holder from said wall and a roll of sheet material between the resilient rod members;

d. additional means on said frame for engaging a box to support the same in spaced relation to the roll of sheet material;

e. each of said resilient rod members having a free end disposed to bear against a wall surface to allow said resilient rod members to press the cross rod member against the box to be supported.

.2. The combination box and sheet roll holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said support means includes a bar member mounted on one of the resilient roll members and extending toward the other one of said resilient rod members for receiving and supporting the roll of sheet material thereon, said bar member having a coaxially related stud portion projecting outwardly of the associated rod member and disposed to engage with complementary wall supporting structure.

3. The combination box and sheet holder as recited in claim 2, wherein said support means includes a pair of said bar members each mounted on an associated resilient rod member in laterally spaced and aligned relation.

4. The combination box and sheet holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said support means includes a pair of laterally spaced loop portions each formed in an associated resilient rod member; said loop portions disposed to receive the ends of a spindle for supporting the roll of sheet material.

5. The combination box and sheet holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said box support means includes a pair of laterally spaced off-set portions each formed in an associated resilient rod member; said off-set portions disposed in substantially horizontal alignment to define spaced shoulder portions for receiving and supporting thereon spaced marginal edge portions of the 

1. A combination box and sheet roll holder for use with existing brackets for holding the bar for a roll of toilet tissue comprising: a. a frame disposed for support from a wall; b. said frame including a pair of resilient rod members, and a cross rod member integrally connected at each end to one of said resilient rod members; c. means on said frame for supporting said holder from said wall and a roll of sheet material between the resilient rod members; d. additional means on said frame for engaging a box to support the same in spaced relation to the roll of sheet material; e. each of said resilient rod members having a free end disposed to bear against a wall surface to allow said resilient rod members to press the cross rod member against the box to be supported.
 2. The combination box and sheet roll holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said support means includes a bar member mounted on one of the resilient roll members and extending toward the other one of said resilient rod members for receiving and supporting the roll of sheet material thereon, said bar member having a coaxially related stud portion projecting outwardly of the associated rod member and disposed to engage with complementary wall supporting structure.
 3. The combination box and sheet holder as recited in claim 2, wherein said support means includes a pair of said bar members each mounted on an associated resilient rod member in laterally spaced and aligned relation.
 4. The combination box and sheet holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said support means includes a pair of laterally spaced loop portions each formed in an associated resilient rod member; said loop portions disposed to receive the ends of a spindle for supporting the roll of sheet material.
 5. The combination box and sheet holder as recited in claim 1, wherein said box support means includes a pair of laterally spaced off-set portions each formed in an associated resilient rod member; said off-set portions disposed in substantially horizontal alignment to define spaced shoulder portions for receiving and supportinG thereon spaced marginal edge portions of the box. 